Fowl

One of the clucks in horrible dress. She is in the process of losing just about all of her feathers in this picture taken in November All of the clucks have their feathers back now.

The flock of turkeys is growing. I think all but a few of the spring babies made it through the summer. There are over 20 of them now.

Recap 2014

     Hello. We at 3Beeze are still alive and doing well. Oh my goodness I can not tell you how crazy the past few months have been for us (it shows in my absence here). A quick recap of the last part of 2014 for us this first full week of this New Year. (Can't believe we are in January already.) Aug. 2014 had my mom and my aunt staying with us, as has been the tradition for the past 10 years. I always enjoy their visits. We visited with our niece and her husband who came up for a job interview which went well. Sept. 2014 had us deep in school. Me back to work and my son back to school like summer had never happened. There were some minor adjustments that needed to be made, which caused a good amount of stress for my son the first month or so and then things finally settled into a nice routine by the time Oct. rolled in. Oct. 2014 had us humans settled but the lady clucks were in the beginning stages of one heck of a molt. We're talking next to no feathers left on their bodies. Wow, they are sure ugly when they go through this kind of a molt and we had no eggs. Nov. 2014 had us with an additional 4 mouths and bodies in our house. Our niece with her two boys and husband were staying with us until they could secure a home. That was one long and hectic month. With still no eggs. Thanksgiving was a full house. With 12 hungry mouths at the farm table. Food was awesome and there were mounds of left overs. We had to add a table and use some creative seating tactics and pull out two sets of dishes but everyone left happy and full. Our home was ours again. Everyone went home. Time enough to get my house back in order and rooms back that we had given over to our niece and her family. Mountains of bed clothes to wash. I thought I'd never finish. I did. Just in time to put harvest decorations away and pull out Christmas. With just two weeks before the day. Then the gift shopping commenced. We kept it easy and light and enjoyed a very quiet and still Christmas holiday. Jan. 2015 -- here we are. With eggs!! The clucks decided they could lay eggs again. What a great way to start 2015!!

Smack Dab In The Middle Of Summer

By date and how the seasons go here in the Pacific Northwest we are smack dab in the middle of summer. We have blue skies and hot temperatures. Perfect for drying the wheat out and that's about it. For the past week we've had to resort to turning the air conditioner on in the middle of the day and doing all the outside chores as quick as possible in the morning before the heat sets in. Some days it seems that is a losing battle. A little sweat never hurt anyone, right?. I take these days in stride and my son and I spend a lot of time at the creek. The water is quite cool still and very refreshing. Soon the weather will turn and we will have blowing snow and below 0 temps. (I'm not a big fan of that.)  The area farmers are just days away from putting harvest into full swing and high gear. Doing as much as we can to soak up as much summer time as possible and tuck it away to pull out and savor later in the year.                                                                                          

Wheat is just about ready.

Cool water at the creek.

June/July Update-Time Got Away From Me

I had so many photos that I wanted to share that I paired them down and decided to post them in two different sets. I can't believe it was April when I was here last (before yesterdays post). I guess looking back we have done all sorts of things since then. It just doesn't seem like it has been that long. So here goes. A photo update on the happenings around here in June and July.                    

Where the wheat meets the vineyards. (Last weekend in May)

Visited the Lavender Farm in early June with my sis.

Summer time thunder storms and glowing wheat. Beginning of June.

Beautiful peaches that my sister brought for me all the way from California.

Beginning of July thunder storms moving in.

                       Our raspberry vines blessing us with wonderful berries end of June beginning of July.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     That is it in a nut shell. A small one but enough for you to get the idea. Now for posting more regularly then once every 3 months.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

April/May Update - Time Got Away From Me

I find myself rather surprised at the time that has flown by since I was here last. April!!! Really, has it been that long? My gosh. A quick run down in photos of the things we've been up to around here is in order.                                                                                                                    

Early April had us with snow in the mountains and some heavy rain in the valley.

Another storm in mid April blowing in over the hill tops for the night.

Fields ready for planting by the end of April.

May's snow melt has all the rivers and creeks swollen.

                                                                                

Progress on my nieces quilt, finished by mid May to give to her as a gift for her birthday.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       **Stop on by tomorrow for the rest of the photo update for June and July!!

Liebster Award Nominee

Liebster Award. It is an award given to up and coming bloggers with less then 200 followers. Leibster is German for favorite. So you could say that this is the Favorite Blog Award. In being nominated or receiving the award you are given 11 questions that you are to answer, you are to give 11 random facts about yourself, nominate 11 other deserving blogs, let them know you nominated them for the award and ask them 11 questions. You should also acknowledge the blogger who nominated you for the award.

I am honored to have been nominated for this award. I was nominated by Linn Acres Farm. You can find them at http://linnacres.blogspot.com/. Here are my 11 questions to answer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

1. Where are you from?    We reside in the rolling wheat fields and fertile wine country of Southeastern Washington in Small Town USA. When I tell people where we live I say it this way because it is easier to grasp our location by this description because it seems that no one has ever heard of the small town we live outside of let alone has any one ever heard of the small township we reside in, I get more understanding from people by telling them our geographical location.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             2. Favorite food or recipe?    Raspberries fresh off the vine, still warm from the afternoon sun, I would say is my favorite food. I can't say that I have a favorite recipe. I kind of add-lib as I go in all of my cooking and baking.

3. Do I prefer summer or winter?    I am a summer lover. I love the sun and the warmth that the summer temps bring with them.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   4.  Why did I start blogging?    I have always liked to write but could never find the time. When we started the idea of the homestead and everything that came with it I thought it would be neat to chronicle the events. I liked the idea of the blog over doing a hand written journal. So that is when the blog became.                                                                                                                                                                 5. Is there anything I'd like to change in my life?    Speaking in the moment no. But taking a look back there are things that, with the knowledge I have now I would have done differently. But wouldn't we all. Our life is good here and we are very blessed.                                                                                                                             6. What is the favorite holiday?    Ours here is the 4th of July.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                7. What is my favorite thing to do with my free time?    Free time. There isn't a lot of free time around here. More like free moments. But what I love to do most with that time is to create. I am an artist through and through and look at everything through the eyes of an artist. So any form of creating is how I like to spend those ever so precious free moments.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      8. Daily routine?    I suppose I do. The same things happen for the most part each day around the same time. But as for following a list, no. Sometimes days are different. Things happen and not the same things are done everyday at the same time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           9. Do you have any pets and what are their names?    We do have pets. A good handful of them. We have several fish - none of them have names. We have 14 clucks. Only some of them have names. Our one rooster, Little Bit. (He isn't all that small either), Our older set of hens all have names, the Buff Orpington, Lucky, the trio of Light Brahma's we call the Dixie Chicks, our Black Australorp is RB and our older Welsummer hen is Althea. Only the ee rooster and the ee hen in our group of newer clucks are named. The ee hen is Chong Win. We have four cats. A 19 year old tabby Lola, our 6 year old male Maine Coon is Barthalmeow, we call him Bat for short and he is quite the character. We have a set of twins, brother and sister tabby barn cats. The male is James, the female is Zooey. Last but not least, the two dogs. Our big lab Luke who is our constant companion and our little Boston Terrier Josie who is our little baby girl.                                                                                                                                                                       10. One of my favorite books?    That's a tough one. I love to read and have lots of favorites. Does an author count? Elizabeth Peters is my favorite author. I know I can count on her for a good read.                                                                                                                                                                                                11. What would I do if I suddenly won the lottery?    I'd have to sit on the money for awhile. Let it sink in for a bit. But I think I might go on a fabric and yarn buying frenzy. Make sure to secure a home in a place that is warm in the winter time and have the husband "retire". Then we would most likely travel. (go back to our rubber tramping roots.)                                                                                                                  Eleven random facts: 

1. We have a library.  2. I am a self proclaimed artist. 3. I love to bake even though I don't do it often. 4. I love to dig in the dirt. 5. I love how dirt smells. 6. I am computer challenged. 7. I love how books smell. 8. I like how fabric and fiber feels when I work with it. 9.  Thunder storms excite me. 10. Roses and lavender are my favorite flowers. 11. I go barefoot as much as possible.                                                                                                                                                                                             Eleven blogs that I nominate for the Liebster Award. I don't follow too many blogs. Some of them have more then 200 followers and a few do not. Here are the few in no special order.   alwaysfixinneversitten.blogspot.com, 500dollartomato.blogspot.com,                                autumnskyranch.blogspot.com , thisweetlandfarm.blogspot.com,                                       goosehillfarm.blogspot.com and theheartofjunebug.blogspot.com.                                                                                                                                                          Here are the 11 questions for our Nominees                                                                                                                                                                   What is the most favorite thing to do on your homestead/farm?                                                What is your most dreaded chore?                                                                What are five words that best describe you?                                                                Where is your most favorite place?                                                           What was it that started your interest in keeping a blog?                                                      How did your blog get its name?                                                                      When is your favorite time of day?                                                                    What is your greatest achievement?                                        What are some of the things that you have done to become more self reliant?                                                   Any hobbies that you have?                                                        What is your everyday job besides your homestead/farm?                                                                                        

Almost Two Years

It has been 2 years since we began this journey of our little homestead and the things that come along with it. Along the way we had another journey that seems like a lifetime ago but is ever present in the scheme of things and events here. One that is knit with the basic ideas of the first journey we began but has been ever so life changing. One that we never anticipated that we would be taking. 2012 January. The idea of living simpler, eating healthier and concentrating on a less stressful lifestyle. We were excited to start this journey and live it. May 2012. Husbands Mom became dreadfully ill and we nearly lost her. I watched this take a tole on my husband, all I could do was be there. I couldn't remove the pain or shoulder the experience. Summer 2012. Husband became ill and was down for 3 weeks with an appendicitis -not a burst appendix but one that had been slowly poisoning him for 3 years and had finally culminated in him being septic, surgery to remove his appendix and nearly a month of healing. Again all I could do was watch and be strong. I couldn't lessen the pain. Mean while my Mom-in-law is still very ill. September 2012-we learn that my husband must have emergency surgery in a matter of days-his life depended on it. That was a big chunk to digest. No time to make arrangements - time enough to gather a few things together and travel to the neurosurgeon and his hospital. Thus the life changing event. Again I was the watcher. The watcher of my husband as he went into surgery not knowing if I would see him alive again and if I did what condition he would be in when I saw him next. My son - not only did I have to stay strong I had to keep my thoughts moving forward to anticipate a plan of attack for us -for if I was to be my husbands caregiver, for if it was just my son and I and to look ahead to bringing my husband home well. This is the thought I focused on. I found myself many times in the only place I could find peace and reassurance - on my knees. Here is where my strength was, my courage. Mean while my Mom-in-law is still ill and we still did not know her out come.  

No time for much of anything else or myself. 2014-nearly 2 years later and what seems like a lifetime ago. My Mom-in-law is on the mend and improving daily. Nearly back to herself again. After several adjustments and learning curves for us, we here at 3Beeze are nearly back to what we could call an everyday life. Some things are the same, a lot is different but in a way that knits itself to the original life change we were looking for when we started with the idea of the homestead. So here we are, ready to keep going and keep adjusting so we can continue to live this life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Something New

The pile of yarn after pulling out what I had been working on.

     Trying something new. I am a quilter by family DNA. It's in the blood. I have always loved knitted items and especially my wool sweaters and cardigans. I have often contemplated the whole knitting thing but that is as far as I have gone with it. Both my Mom and Mom-in-law knit. For my mom it's a once in while thing. She would rather sew. She's the seamstress. Always at her sewing machine. My Mom-in-law does knit often and she turns out some really beautiful stuff. She too is a quilter. My Aunt crochets. Something I would also like to learn but after I get this knitting thing down. As in quilting I love the medium I get to work with. The weight of it, its texture, the gorgeous patterns and colors. I just can't get enough. I love to see it evolve into what it is supposed to be. I have an idea of what I would like to see but what ever piece I am working on has a mind of its own and takes the project in the direction that is meant for it. I suppose I look at all of the projects that I take on in this way. I'd have to say that as long as I follow the direction the project takes me, I have liked the out come. No sense in fighting and going against the grain. Go with the flow and everything turns out the way it was meant to.

A new start.

Unplugged

     I have been trying to post something every Friday. Mostly I manage except recently. The only thing different about these Fridays is that I have not made it here to the blog to post or to our facebook page, is that these are the Fridays that my son has had a day off from school and the days prior to that day off are busy with trying to get the things done that I usually do on Friday so that my son and I can have a day together doing mom and son stuff instead house and yard chores. I also feel on these days that my attention and time need to be given to him and not to the cyber world. Now don't get me wrong. I love to write and look forward to it and that is one of my main reasons for starting this blog. Secondly I enjoy sharing my thoughts and the goings on around here. Thirdly and this is the part I consider a bonus, the part that I didn't take into account when I started this blog and our facebook page as well as the pinterest page was the new friends that were made through these pages. I look forward to sharing with all of you and your comments, thoughts, advice and opinions. But I also think that being "unplugged" and spending time with my son and husband and even some "unplugged" time for myself is very important and healthy too. 

A hiking day and country drive. Being "unplugged".

Time

     Here we are in February already. Month 2 of this year well on it's way to being history. Man, why does time seem to go by so fast? Seems the older we get the faster time goes. Do you remember as a kid how time couldn't move fast enough. How it seemed to stand still at times. But now you blink and you've missed something. The school year nearly half over and the prospect of junior high for my son after summer-which never lasts long enough and goes by way too fast. Another year older, moving closer to an age that seemed unattainable when I was younger -shoot even now seems that way. How did this happen? I certainly thought I would have it together by now. Maybe I do a little more so then I did when I was say, 20 but geez I sure don't have things all figured out. I'm still learning and gaining wisdom everyday. I look at things a lot differently then I used to - but that's because of the experiences life has thrown at me over time. You live and learn. Shame on you if you don't live. One time through is all you get. That's why I wish time wouldn't move so quickly. I'd like to savor the good times a little longer. I guess that is where you finally come to when reach the plateau of life when you have lived enough years to actually have a small bit of that so hard to obtain wisdom. When you are smart enough to learn from your mistakes and you aren't afraid to live life. Some folks never realize that part of living life until it's too late. Until that point in time when too much time has passed them by. So in the ever increasing passage of time one must reach the point at when it's time to slow down and notice the details, see the small things, smell the coffee, sit and be still for a moment or two or three or more, study your children and tuck away in your heart all of the sweet things about them when they are small but even more so those special qualities about them that make them who they are as they grow up. Hug them and continue to do so as they grow into adults. Take a moment to tell someone they are cherished and how much you love them. Before you know it, in the blink of an eye, time has gone by so quickly.  

Ideas

      Tossing around ideas for around here. Lots of them. Not necessarily because it's the new year. But because we as a family have had some good down time these past few weeks for Christmas and New Years. We all had some good time off from work/school and in general being busy. So we were able to talk about our ideas for what we wanted to see done around here.

-Ideas like a walking path from the patio to the clucks coop and then over to the fire pit area.

          -Raising the roof of the clucks run. Our son is nearly as tall as I am now and even he has problems with squatting down to get in the run area to put down the food. Time to raise the roof so the run is more kind to our backs. I think the clucks will like the taller space too. We will be finding some large tree branches to put inside for them to get up on to roost. We will all be much happier.

        -Adding more clucks to our little flock. Husband and Son are both wanting to add some little banty hens to the flock. I would like to add another Easter Egger and a Wyandott or maybe some Faverolle. Not sure but wanting good egg layers. So we'll see what's out there this year in the way of choices from our local farm supply. 

      -We want to plant a garden this year. Since we took last year off. This year something smaller and started from seeds. 

           -I would like to see the porch cover done that Husband has been wanting for several years too. Not sure if we'll manage that but we'll keep it on our list.                -Moving the strawberry patch to a different location.                                       - Planting more trees.       Then there is all the up keep. Trimming up the berry vines, staying up with the

  weeds when the time comes and preparing the garden area to be planted.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

No Resolutions; Continuing Growth

There's a lot of talk this time of year about resolutions. I am not one that usually makes resolutions. This year has been nothing but change for us here at 3Beeze. Lifestyle changes. Those are the kinds of things I think of when it's time for resolutions. My strength of faith, my courage and core have been put to the test over the last year and a half. I learned a lot about myself and about living life.  So rather then one or two things I could put my finger on to resolve to change, its more a whole package thing for me. Growing my faith, standing firm on the strength that I have, not only on the surface but the deep down inner strength that stands firm at my core,  pushing aside doubt and allowing my courage to remain solidly on the surface. Not trying to make a difference in the lives of others but living my life in such a way that it makes a difference in others lives. Seeing things as they are, not how I think they should be. Noticing the small details in the life around me and not being so busy that all I see is the big picture. Life has so many things to share with us. To keep moving forward and being thankful for my blessings, even the ones that don't seem so much like blessings at the time.  

                                                                             

Keeping Traditions

     Keeping traditions. I find myself doing this a lot. Most of the things that make good sense around here come from the knowledge and activities from the past. One of these traditions I find myself doing often is sewing. I come from a family of seamstress'. Both my Aunts on my Mom's side are accomplished seamstress'. As well as my Mom. My Mom is always up to making something. She makes a lot of her own clothes as well as clogging outfits for her clogging team. She is constantly sewing. When she isn't sewing clothes she is making something creative. Usually for my niece, like costumes or doll clothes. When my Sister and I were small I remember my Mom sewing for our Christmas gifts. She made us pj's, new dresses for Christmas eve church service, dolls, doll clothes, quilts. She was always sewing something then and has continued to do so through the years. She even took on making my wedding gown. No easy task, I assure you. A treasure in it's own right. In keeping traditions I found myself doing what I know my Mom did so many years ago when I was little, spending hours with her sewing machine, except now it's me. Sewing up some love and giving it as gift treasures. Oh and by the way, I am sure that my Mom is still spending hours  with her sewing machine. That I think will never change. 

The quilt I am making for my son for Christmas. Born from a comment he made while we were talking about how we were going to have a light Christmas this year in gifts and instead enjoy being with each other. He told me that all he wanted from me for Christmas was a box with my love wrapped up inside. The quilt was the best way I could think of to give him my love in a box.

Here the quilt is almost finished. Hand finishing the binding to the back is all that is left to do and it will be complete.

A pillowcase for my niece. A tradition that began when she was a little one. She loves the cases. I make a few for her each Christmas and on her Birthday. 

She has quite the collection now. I always have fun making them and I know she really diggs using them . Never too many cases right? ;)

Matching pj's for my niece and her extra special stuffed rabbit. 

                                           

Never Ending To Do's

Outside preparations. On going it seems. Or never ending is a better way to put it. It seems that I have been trying to wrap things up outside since September. Every time I think I am close to the end - the end seems to move farther away. I have been trying my hardest to get things complete before the bad weather sets in. I did manage to get some of these things done in some really beautiful weather. One of those things was the cleaning out and resealing of the gutters and their joints. No pictures of this, cause well, gutters are not that interesting and who wants to see dirty gutters. I know I didn't.

Stain. It could be a spot of something mysterious from who knows where on your favorite shirt of pair of jeans but in this instance it's wood stain. You can see in this picture how dry the wood is for the fence of the coop. The front and one top plank on the side of the fence have been stained. The bottom two planks along the side have not yet had the stain applied. The difference was amazing. 

Once again stain. We treat the coop with stain about this time every year. Whether it needs it or not. Clearly, as you can see by the picture it is in desperate need of a good staining. The right side around the window has newly applied stain. The rest hasn't yet been done. 

What a difference stain can make. The coop has a new coat of stain all the way around. Protected against the elements for another year. The clucks may not notice or care but I do. Now when I look out my kitchen window I smile at what a beautiful coop the Lady Clucks have. 

I moved all of the plants in from the patio to the mud room. They are quite happy there and have gifted me with some new blooms. 

Last week was a busy week for us here. All of that busyness tumbled right over into the weekend. 

Thank You

The words thank you do not convey the depth of our gratitude for those who have given so much of themselves for this country we call home. We have many family members and friends who have served and are currently serving in our great nations military. We here at 3Beeze Homestead hold great pride and are humbly honored to call these people friends, fathers, uncles, aunt, cousin, grand fathers and great grandmother.                                                                                                         

Weekend Recap

    We have had one busy end to October and start of November. I can not believe that we are nearing the end of this year. With birthdays and holidays around the corner we have a busy next few months ahead as well. Note to self-don't forget to stop and smell the coffee.  We had lots of to do's this weekend and only managed to check a few off of our list. (We didn't have a list. But you know what I mean.) 

I love Geraniums. I remember my mom always having them when I was a kid. Hers were pink. So each summer I go out and get my Geraniums. Red ones. Love the red. Each year when we get the freezing temps I lose them. The leaves get all sucked up looking and brown. This year I intend to keep these little pretties alive in our mudroom/laundry room. No sense in wasting these happy, colorful bits of summer. You all know how much I love summer. 

So I trimmed all of the brown sucked up leaves off. To find that these plants still had some life left and not all was lost in the recent below freezing temps. Very happy about this. I had to replant them in some smaller pots in order to move them indoors. They seem quite happy in their new digs. Now all I have to do is not forget to water them.

We had some raking to do this weekend as well. We still have lots more to do. I managed to get the area around the coop and run raked out. The roof to the run raked off and the run raked and cleaned out. Now that the walnut tree has lost all of its leaves and the dang walnuts, it was safe to get in and get things all cleaned up with out the worry of being assaulted by walnuts falling from the tree. They hurt when they hit you. 

As you can see in this picture and the one above our ugly girl is finally getting some feathers back. She has been in a molt since February. I am happy to see signs of her getting her feathers back. Our other hens have been molting here and there but not with quite as much gusto as this Australorp. Our egg production has dropped off considerably the last months of summer and this past week we have been two days with not a single egg. We got one egg on Saturday and nothing again yesterday. These clucks better get laying. I need eggs!!!

In all of the activity this weekend, raking leaves, moving trailers, cleaning gutters and the clucks coop and run we managed to enjoy the outside and had some nice weather. While we were outside we let the clucks out to forage in the yard and piles of leaves. They can really do a number on a nice pile of leaves. Our Easter Egger rooster Little Bit was working hard at his rooster duties. We have a resident mama hawk who resides in the trees by the creek and guess what? She decided it was time to do some hunting. I heard her and kept an ear open to where her squawks were coming from. Most of her noise was coming from a distance but one was directly over head. I looked up and sure enough there she was. Looking to mark her target. I looked into the yard and saw that Little Bit had all of his ladies gathered underneath the big pine tree. He had heard her too. What a good boy.

I told the guys and we hurried to get the ladies into the safety of their covered run. Little Bit was quite happy with that and remained in the yard with us guarding his precious ladies. The lady clucks were quite happy to be in their run. Preening themselves in the sun after foraging in the yard. 

Not everything that we had intended to do this weekend got done but we did do some of it, as well as some things that we hadn't intended on doing. Most importantly we enjoyed each others company.